The Canadiens practised Friday afternoon in Florida, but one player was missing. Tomas Plekanec, who scored two goals in the win over the Red Wings, did not travel with the team to Florida, instead returning to Montreal for what the team called a “family matter.”

“We’re not sure Pleky will be there tomorrow,” coach Michel Therrien told reporters after practice. “For us, it’s family first. If he’s there, it’s great for us, great for the team, but if he isn’t, we have other players who can step in. But the way we do things, family is most important.”

There was great news Friday about Habs prospect Tim Bozon, who was being released from hospital in Saskatoon after spending four weeks there battling a form of acute bacterial meningitis that had put him in a medically induced coma.

“From what I have learned since coming out of the coma, the people here at the Royal University Hospital went to amazing lengths to save my life,” Bozon said at a news conference Friday in Saskatoon. “To them, first and foremost, my heartfelt thanks. But I must also extend gratitude to everyone who sent me their thoughts and prayers, especially my parents, who rushed here from France to be by my side.”

Said Bozon’s neurologist, Dr. Gary Hunter: “We are optimistic he will make a full recovery but it will take some time before that possibility could be realized.”

Bozon, who will continue to undergo rehabilitation after his discharge from hospital, is expected to drop the puck during a ceremonial faceoff Saturday night when his Kootenay Ice junior team meets the Calgary Hitmen in a WHL playoff game. Bozon was selected by the Canadiens in the third round (64th overall) at the 2012 NHL entry draft. You can follow Bozon on Twitter by clicking here.

Therrien announced after Friday’s practice that Carey Price will start in goal against Florida. Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, who suffered an upper-body injury in a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night, won’t be in the lineup Saturday night. Dan Ellis will get the start in his place and Scott Clemmensen will be the backup.

Saturday’s game will be a homecoming for Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver, who was acquired from the Panthers at this month’s NHL trade deadline.

“I had four years here, it was a great place to live,” Weaver said. “Obviously, it’s emotional, but I’m happy where I am now. Being in a big market, being on a playoff team and everything that goes with Montreal, it’s exciting.”

Here’s how the Habs lines and defence pairings looked at practice Friday:

576 Comments

My grandfather took me to my first baseball games at the old Maple Leaf Stadium to see the triple A Maple Leafs in the 60s. I went to a number of Red Sox games at Fenway in the 70s, was fortunate to see a few games at Yankee Stadium in the 80s and later haunted the SkyDome during the run ups to two world championships in the early 90s and finally a few Expos games before they folded.

But my favorite baseball memories are of the Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium…sneaking out of work for afternoon games, freezing your butt off on those aluminum benches, drinking crappy watered down beer, watching the fog and seagulls roll in, seeing greats like George Brett, Reggie Jackson, yelling “You’re so pretty Rickey” at Henderson, bracing for yet another losing effort and loving every minute.

Lot’s of cool Expos banter on here today. You see a name that someone has posted and brings back lots of memories, like Al Oliver or Mike Lansing. How about Chris Spier? Pretty good SS back in the glory days days, late 70’s early 80’s.
For me though, it begins and ends, with The Kid.

Yup Speier was cool even think he settled down in the laurentians married a quebecker? Trying to relate baseball to hockey how about Ron Hunt he of the brush cut old school and mighty big cojones with over 50 hit by pitches almost every year!

Hey pooch, no doubt there is argument for pleks, I would argue pleks over patch but I would not put him above Subban or Markov, and do you think he is better than Vanek? Could he move a redwing off the put and set up a goal like he did? Top 6 yes. All around great player yes. Future captain, maybe.

My kids are having a sleepover tonight with the neighbours girls coming over. That means 4 girls 6-8. I need them watching a movie (Frozen) so I can watch the game in peace. If you think I am going to turn my power off for an hour at 8:30, you’re nuts. Earth Hour should be in the summer, not in hockey season.

Great to read everyone’s Expos memories. I went to quite a few games, as a young teen, we drove in from Joliette and watched some of the season ending series against the hated Pirates. The stadium location definitely wasn’t a problem for us, great not to have to fight downtown traffic, the Métropolitaine was enough.

When I lived in Montréal, my baseball addiction had waned a bit, I think the beginning of the end was when we got Pete Rose and got rid of Al Oliver. That never felt right, I didn’t hate or like Pete Rose, he was just a guy on the Reds and Phillies who had this weird stance but could hit like crazy and often hurt us. It wasn’t like we’d gotten Dale Murphy, or Willie Stargell or Omar Moreno or Dave Parker, guys I couldn’t stand, but I wanted us to win it ourselves, fair and square, with Gary Carter and Ellis and André and Tim Raines and our pitchers, Steve Rogers, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Lea, Dave Palmer, Scott Sanderson, the Spaceman. It was okay to bring up guys from the minors, a trade here and there, I loved Al Oliver, but this felt like cheating somehow.

So now that I don’t watch or care about baseball, that I skip over the baseball segments on SportsCentre and PTI, I can’t get excited about the return of the Expos. I won’t lift a finger. If ever there’s a jewel of a stadium in downtown that gets built with private money, I’ll go check it out, but it’s madness to think we should spent tax dollars to transfer more wealth to a crazy billionaire.

If anything, during the last NHL lockout, I kind of hoped it would kill my hockey habit, that I could move on to other things. I hate participating when Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell, Ed Snyder, Brad Marchand, Mike Milbury and others like them will profit. So now that I’ve properly detoxed from baseball, I’m not eager to take a new hit of that pipe.

———————————————————————–My sources are unreliable, but their info is fascinating.–Woody Paige

I attempted a post to the last expos discussion from a few weeks but don’t think it went through…my bro and I waited after a game for pirates autographs and here comes willie Stargell ….hey willie can you sign this? Sorry boys my work is done snaps his fingers two beautiful ladies appear snaps them again and a limo..and then poof they are gone. Have to admit even as a young teen I appreciated that this gave a whole different meaning to their “we are family” theme of those great teams

Really looking forward to the Habs in the playoffs this year.
There is a much different ‘feel’ to this team vs. last year.

Although not evident at first glance, this team is quite different from last year.

Price:
It all starts with him.
Last year was a year to forget for Price.
He was ‘just OK’ during the season, and subpar during the Ottawa playoff series.
With the hiring of Stephane Waite – and the 2 Cup rings he has won…and having dealt with Niemi and Crawford, he may be just what Carey needs when it gets a little nervy out there.
It’s now time for Carey to perform in the playoffs.
His career .905 SP won’t do it.

Defence:
With respect to Raphael Diaz, you don’t win 1 or multiple playoff series with him being the #3 Dman on the team, and the #1 penalty kill Dman.
The Habs also had no other option but to play rookie Tinordi for over 13 minutes.

This year, Emelin is healthy-Josh should be back, and the additions of inexpensive depth Dmen Murray/Weaver gives the coach options.

Forwards:
Last year, non NHL depth players such as Halpern, Dumont, Blunden and a finished Colby Armstrong were in the line-up for 11 man games. Huge upgrade this year.
Vanek is also a significant upgrade over Ryder.
For the 2 Gallys, this will be the second time around, and they will know, and have a better idea what to expect.

* Now, if the Habs can just stay healthy and have the injured recover and ready, this could be interesting….and if they are healthy, there is not a team in the East the Habs cannot beat.

Agree with everything except your last sentence. I think we could handle everyone except the Flyers, who always seem to beat us despite poor or average goaltending. I’m also not sure we could beat the Rangers, a team no one is talking about these days but who IMO are seriously good.

Surely both you and myself would relish an Eastern Conference Final against either one of those teams.

Flyers?
While Steve Mason is playing great, his career playoff experience shows a record of 0-4.
Their D? While many complain about the Habs D, the Flyers have no PK or Markov and are average at best as a 6 man D unit.

Rangers?
Agreed. They have several tools starting in nets with Lundqvist.
Their 6 man D unit is very good, yet from here, the Habs Top 6 easily matches them, and the Bottom 6 is superior.

The Habs looked like a playoff team against the Red Wings Thursday. They just seemed much more engaged in the play, tenacious with their forechecking, making crisper passes and actually hitting the net and scoring goals…just a level of maturity we haven’t seen all year.
Of course our biggest question mark is our defense and will it hold up for the long run? I know I, as many others on this board have been pushing for Beaulieu to be in the lineup but I guess Therien is banking on the experienced vets to stedy the ship in the back end. It has worked so far.
Lastly, this is Price’s time to shine. There’s no question heading in we feel very confident about his play but there’s always going to be that seed of doubt not forgetting his past playoff hiccups.
At least we know they WILL be a tough out in the playoffs. That’s for sure..

….as did the Habs against the Bruins.
GMMB and Coach Therrien talk a lot about “Character” yet the character shown by the Habs in that win – lead by Emelin and Gionta-Plex-Markov, was something special.

Ah, Kate and Natasha to provide me with my morning highlights, and interviews of the 18-wheeler going off a cliff. These two are so, so much better than Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole.

In the first segment, Dion Phaneuf explains his bobble of the puck by saying it went “fourty feet in the air, bounced way up”. Try fourteen Dion, if that. Too bad he slipped out the back last time and got lambasted, this time he had to face the reporters, and he’s obviously feeling the pressure. Fourty feet Dion? Four stories high? Like, just missed the Jumbotron?

———————————————————————–My sources are unreliable, but their info is fascinating.–Woody Paige

I liked how he finished that with, “not sure what more I could with it” or something like that. I heard the quote before seeing the highlight, so I also was expecting to see the puck nearly hit the time clock way above……yah not quite. No doubt was bouncing, not easy, but do love watching his interviews now.

Price, Subban, Vanek, Markov, Patch, are the top and there is no bottom. Some play better than others sure but how do you measure effort and heart? Once you go past Pleks, Gally, DD, Chucky, Emelin, the bottom work well as a team these days. We got the a top 5 in the league 4th line I believe.

I don’t understand why nobody likes Frankie…he’s so much more agile than the rest of the big pylons we have on D and he can move the puck. Enough of the big, slow defenseman already.

“…on their way to a Stanley Cup. But that seems pretty unlikely for a team that seems to think Douglas Murray should get ice time. Seriously, using Douglas Murray is like using a scarecrow to defend your house against burglars. He’s a physical presence, sure, but he’s pretty easy to walk around.”

1) ” I’ll cut your head off and jam it down your throat if you run into Carey?” (surely Diaz never said that)
OR
2) ” Go ahead and shoot – I’ll block it”…and how maybe those changed decisions have allowed a Habs PK to be # 3 in the NHL only slightly behind NJ and St.Louis.

TB has games in hand, which is good for them. But they actually have to play them in short order, which is good for us. We’ll be playing them on their 3rd game in 4 nights and they’ll be closing the year playing 4 in 6 nights. Absolutely no guarantee these games in hand turn into wins.

Roll 4 lines and dump the puck behind their d-men relentlessly all game long and they should fade at least a tad by the third.

—————-
Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.

This is a pretty good article, and I think this sentence still applies to us: “This was a team that needed its goalies to stand on their heads to win, from the start of the season until now.” Of course, it applies to other teams as well although not necessarily to the same extent.

Morning all, I was at the game last night at the Big O and it was a blast, I brought my little brother along with three of my close friends. My brother who is ten years younger, never saw the Expos, but last night you could of sworn he never missed a game.

My favorite moment was when the Jays tied the game last night we were doing the wave and then the stadium started to rumble, I thought it was falling apart, but it was the seats clacking and smacking. I thought oh my god how could I forget, I got up and did it too, my brothers eyes went wide with excitement he laughed and did it to and then the whole stadium was doing it, the noise and the atmosphere was electric. I’m going again today, I can’t wait.

People bash to big O, it was not an ideal place to watch baseball. I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed every game I was ever at throughout the 70’s, 80, 90 and whatever they called the next decade! I miss the old place.

@ Dunboyne Mike; bit belated but I was in Kilkenny in 2007-2008, the Cats were going for their third Men’s All Ireland in a row that year. I went to the semi final against Cork and the final against rival county Waterford, both at Croke Park in Dublin. What a venues. It hold around 82000 seat, all of which were sold out in both games for the incredible non professional sport that is Irish Hurling. I sat both times in rowdy Hill 16, behind the end post, standing the whole time, taking in the amazing Irish trash talk going on around me.
After the win in the finals, my Irish friends convinced me to run onto the field, so I did, and my friends watching at home saw me dart across the field high fiving players. Taking the bus back to Kilkenny that night with all the other Cats fans, we felt like champions. The streets were packed with people and the driver kept honking the horn, an amazing experience. Hopefully the Habs can once again be dominant like Kilkenny, but that is a tall order in today era.
There’s lots of great places still to see in the world, but if an opportunity comes across where I can go back to Ireland I would jump on it. Hopefully it’s in September, during the finals….
On ya cats!
Go Habs Go!
CH-eers!

For most of the year, being a devout Hab fan in the heart of Leaf country is annoying at the best of times and down-right aggravating the majority of the time. Until now, when watching the slow death the so-called “Canada’s Team” can bring warmth to our souls after the longest winter in the history of the The Weather Network! Walking around in my Habs cap (instead of my Habs toque) with a big smile on as the sun warms my face I think defines “schadenfreude” to a tee. ( pun completely intended). Enjoy! Habs fans of central and southern Ontario! This is reward for our penance!
Are we loving our Habs right now our what?

Got my Habs Tee on right now in the heart of Leafs nation and I know what you mean. Just really happy for the Habs right now. Also happy the Habs are not being attacked in the Media for anything. The media horde appears to be busy elsewhere for a change!
24 cups and counting….

1970- Jarry Park- a crumbling dilapidated venue where every seat (bench, really) was a good one. I was behind home plate, the realm of John Bocc-a-bella! I could see pretty much everything because I was so close to the action. The voices of the vendors crying out, “Bière froide…cold be-e-e-er!” It didn’t matter then if Nos Amours won or lost; everyone was happy that Montreal had a team. Surely, a ballpark would be built, right?
Then, Curtis Flood won his court challenge and Expos owner Bronfman replied to that news with a “Bleep me, players are going to get too expensive and I don’t want any part of it.”
A little later, they moved into The Giant Bidet way the hell over in the east end. I went to games and felt cheated. Not by the winning or the losing, but by how terrible EVERY seat at that piece of crap is. I had front row on both first and third base and it still felt like I was far away. I can only imagine what those fans in the bleachers thought.
Still, I hoped the team would come to its senses and build a downtown park. It was never to be, and when the rich ownership left the team to a bunch of wannabe clowns, the Expos’ death became inevitable. Since ’94 and the “let’s not have a Canadian team win a 3rd World Series in a row crowd” locked the doors on that season, I watched, but only sporadically. Nos Amours had become the neglected dog kept on a chain in the back yard, forgotten and unloved. It was a mercy when the team was finally put down 10 years later. I haven’t watched an inning since.

No disputing the Big O was/is just terrible. It’s not cool when you have to try an ignore your surroundings to really get the feel of being in a ball park. I was able to do that on many nights there but was also crushed when no downtown ballpark was built.

I can’ remember what year it was, early 90s?, when the roof of the Big O was off for the entire season. They should have just left it that way!!! It was the only season where the Big O somewhat felt like a ballpark.

Me and all, have not watched an inning the death of the Expos. I so wish them back. Started following the Expos around 72 when I was around 10 and remember listening to the games on CKQT FM Oshawa. I used to love hearing the Expos theme music come on the radio. Dave Van Horne who was partnered with the late Russ Taylor before Duke Snider was the best baseball announcer around. We Montreal fans were sure lucky to grown of with the likes of Dave and Danny.

Cal, I too, have not watched baseball since the Expos were stolen from us. Admittedly I am too young (weird that I may be too young for anything at this point) to have gone to Jarry Park, however my dad and I had WS tickets in ’81, which the team was allowed to print after getting to the NLCS. I can still remember the cream-puff fastball Rogers served up to Rick Monday. Devastating.

John Bocaaaaaa- Bella. That name conjures up some great summer memories of watching baseball. Also the Grande Orange…It took me years to go back after the Expos were killed. Starting to get my baseball legs under me again with help from my son who has taken a strong interest in the grand old game.

Looking at the practice lines, I think Briere should have been between the two Gally’s, MT is either good or lucky the pass few Games everything has worked for him, so who am I to say, hoping they come away with two points teams that has nothing to lose can be dangerous!

I like Plex a great deal, but for me that mantle of best after Price is now with Max P. Especially the way he is playing of late, wow, a 200 foot player on the ice and a sniper. I am more convinced than ever he was fighting an injury (groin/hamstring) earlier in year.

Boy oh boy, nostalgia this morning with the Expos talk, man do i ever miss that team. Have tried so hard to become a Jays fan but just cannot do it. As a kid my American League team was California Angels because of Rod Carew, but even they seem like a mismanaged science experiment these days. I do still love baseball, I still watch baseball, I just cannot feel that attachment to any other ball team.

Got me to wondering why I am so attached to the Habs and the Expos, and in watching these Expos tributes it dawned on me.

We fans of Montreal Expos and Canadiens were spoiled with perhaps the best communicators you could get telling us about our boyhood heroes.

Dave VanHorne and Duke Snider were brilliant, just as we had Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin telling us about hockey. Who better to teach us about those great athletes.

One must raise his hat to a good old MTL boy Alex Anthopoulos who for the love of the sport and of his team the Blue Jays does everything to keep the interest alive in MTL. I too did not care for the Blue Jays a lot but since he has been there and since he does many things to reach baseball lovers in Mtl i feel like i owe him to give him and his team my support. Never ever would have thought it would happen one day !

A big bravo to those behind the project also for it brings back so many good memories . I got tired about all the negative vibes around the team and it`s departure but this mini serie is done in such a different positive outlook that one baseball lover cannot ignore !

It’s kinda crazy but I’m more of a Blue Jays fan. I was born in Montreal in 1975, moved to Toronto in the early 80s, back to Montreal in the late 80s, before moving back to Toronto in the late 90s! I’ve since lived in Calgary and now live in Ottawa.

Anyhow, my first baseball experiences were at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium in the 80s watching the Blue Jays with my dad. So I’m a little more attached to the Jays but also have very fond memories of the Expos and Olympic Stadium.

Watched the Red Sox with my Grand Dad on channel WPTZ before the Expos so they are my AL team even now. Loved the Expos at first sight. Follow the Blue Jays now as best as I can, but like you my heart doesn’t belong to them…

Roger Doucet, Claude Raymond on CKAC, when I did yard work in the summers I’d run an extension cord or three to where I was and listen to the game while I worked. Listened to quite a few games late at night when I should have been sleeping, the volume kept low so my parents wouldn’t hear and catch me.

Another fine Spring day (yeah, right). The sky is cloudy, the temperature is a balmy 2°C and the laffs have 2 more games played than the other 3 teams deadlocked at 80 points. With Shootout wins being a tie-breaker, and Princess Phaneuf in freefall, things are looking good for another NHL playoff without them. I wonder what Nono-nonis thinks of that 7 year contract extension now?

On the Habs’ side of things, all the team needs to do is keep ‘er going. Even if Pleks can’t go tonight, the rest of the team has to step up and prepare to clinch their spot to the Dance.

I’m sure that some of the other Bruins privately roll their eyes at guys like Lucic who whine so much. I’ve never seen such a whining bunch of bullies in my life. It’s Julien’s fault partiall -he’s the same. In Montreal when he was coach he was the same. It drove me crazy. Every time there was a call he didn’t like or a small hit on a guy he would cry like someone had stolen his ice cream cone. Half the Bruins do this now it’s part of their culture. Oh, what just one more little goal in game 7 could have done for the league when we met them in the playoffs a couple of years ago.

If you forget about all the politics and bad blood that went on and that still exists regarding the departure of the Expos, this little exhibition series that’s going on between the Jays and Mets is pretty cool.

When I think of the Expos I think of riding the Metro as a teenager all the way out to PI-IX for the 1st time. I remember taking my first few sips of Labatt 50 ( it was 50 or Blue only) when I was 17 or 18 at the Big O. Of course I remember the sounds of the crack of the bats, the smell of pretzels, popcorn and hot dogs. The Rusty Staubs bar and the bands that would play in the hallways.

I used to love listening to Dave Van Horne call the games and Mitch Melnick’s post games shows on AM 600 or CJAD.

When I liked the Expos it was before the Internet exploded. So I’d wake up in the morning and rush downstairs to read the Montreal Gazette to check how many games back the Expos were. My friends and I would just pray that they’d somehow sneak into the playoffs every year. We were so excited during the 1994 season before it all came crashing down.

So to see the game last night was a tad special for me. I did watch the entire thing. It was pretty cool that the old building looked and sounded pretty much the same. I’m not holding my breath but I’d love to see another Expos games in my life in a new downtown stadium.

I was listening to the team 1200 radio yesterday and they had someone on, I missed his name, he said they are working on having a team, hopefully the Expos, back in Montreal in the next 5 years. He did say now there is a bit of a wrench thrown in by the Premier of Quebec and the new “push” she is making to enforce language laws, even on facebook, and of course separation.

I would study the averages, stolen bases and home runs for a good hour every day. I also really wish I still had the autographed picture of Gary Carter that the Expos sent me in the mail at my mom’s request.

The Hawk and The Rock were my favourites. Not that I didn’t love the Kid, but i just really loved how Andre kind of raised Tim in the Big Leagues. I still think of all the former Expos greats, the player whose career is most underappreciated is Raines.

Dawson got notoriety with MVP season in Chicago, Carter got the World Series in New York, and Raines well he bounced around the majors after Montreal.

As good a base stealer as there was, unfortunately that kid named Coleman was in the league at the same time.

I am surprised to be in the bandwagon this time as the spirit behind those games is the celebration of past events and of the sport itself. No begging ,no crying no bad feelings just pleasure and baseball. Feels good to see all those athletes from the past and the stadium alive with baseball lovers.

Some of the best memories walking along Sherbrooke out to the stade. Really cheap seats, watching those great players, listening to the chatter from the knowledgeable fans all around. My girlfriend (now my wife) used to cheer for Tim Wallach as she thought he was cute. I loved the Hawk, Tim Raines, the big cat, Larry Walker, Parrish, Cro-bar, Valentine, Grissom, Carter. Saw a few games at Jarry Park too. Fond memories of that old place. Loved the Expos, head over heals for them. I still miss them to this day.

Nice to catch up with some of you last night. It’s been a long week, but – much like the weather in Ottawa – it’s getting better.

The Leafs’ loss last night extends their slump, which could not have come at a worse (or perhaps better) time. Fortunately for Toronto (or perhaps unfortunately for everyone else) nobody seems interested in snatching that final playoff seed. The next two weeks will be interesting.

Speaking of two weeks, the Masters, yes, that timeless golf tradition is set to unfold. Hard to imagine when I look out the window and see two feet of snow. The crazy weather is only matched by the unlikely outcomes within the world of sports this year. The Seahawks winning the Super Bowl, upsets in the NCAA basketball tourney, Earnhardt jr winning the Daytona 500…..the Canadiens winning a cup…… Snuck that one in to see if I still had your attention.

With Dan Ellis in goal this evening, I fully expect to see the Habs light it up. More critical to our success will be working on tightening up in our zone and making more controlled, insulated, plays as we transition from defence to offense. Once again, we need to stay healthy, so let’s hope for no bumps, bruises or otherwise.

Lastly, I’ve had the pleasure of watching some CHL playoff games this year. One in person, three on television. It’s been fantastic hockey. Those living within a reasonable commute of your local junior team, I’d highly recommend investing your time in checking out a game. For those in the Ottawa area, the Olympiques play in an old bandbox arena, Robert Guertin, which is full of character. Every seat is excellent and within feet of the ice surface. It also doesn’t hurt that Martin Reway is on fire and worth the price of admission himself.

In closing, I wish each of you well. We have iniatives in place for Earth Hour this evening. Hopefully the Leafs follow protocol and shut down between 8:00 and 9:00. I think the majority of hockey fans would appreciate watching their demise, if only by the light of candles.

Have a great day everyone! We are off to the museum of civilization. Cheers, CJ

Ah…The Masters
One of the last things on the bucket list – to walk those hallowed grounds.
The closest I ever got was back in 1993 when I was in Augusta on business.

We drove to the locked gates of Augusta National and of course was met by a security guard that had a puzzled look on his face.
We asked if we could enter – just take a drive up Magnolia Lane and turn right around…and his answer was:
” No sir-can’t do that” in the most polite southern drawl.

Then one of our party took out a crisp $100 USD (this is 21 years ago) – asked him to jump in with us and supervise the ride…and again, he said, ” No sir-can’t do that…I’ll lose my job.”

Loyalty and smarts…..then again, no one in the South would have ever wanted to incur the wrath of Hootie John son.
Martha Burk learned that lesson.

As time goes on, Twitter is becoming one of the most questionable/controversial ‘methods of communicating’…if that is what one wishes to call it.
The examples are legion.

In Montreal, you had the goofy Mayor tweeting how ’51’ should get a 1 way ticket to Hamilton….

That’s kidde stuff compared to Riddick Bowe who has a well- documented history of violence outside the ring and served prison time because of it.

The following tweets could be considered even more disturbing because during a trial – true or not, his defense lawyers claimed brain damage caused by fighting.
“….He also was ordered to seek treatment for impulsive behavior stemming from brain damage suffered during 250 amateur and professional bouts, and not to box while on probation.”

Riddick Bowe @riddickbowe
See you in the parking lot Randy…
10:40pm – 28 Mar 14
———————-
Many will take these tweets as fun/comedy – and here’s hoping that’s exactly what they are, yet one never knows what dormant volcano of anger hovers beneath the surface of an individual with a checkered past.

Hey did you overcook your porridge this morning, MRonn?! Don’t recall you being this dark first thing before!

That Bowe doesn’t appreciate how this particular line of humour ought to be a no-go area for him is indeed pretty scary. Meantime, hopefully his parole officer insists he is orderly and patient keeping his place in the line that will no doubt form in the car park.

Larry Lintz! But he wasn’t even as good as Rodney Scott. Expos base-stealing tradition was initiated by the great Maury Wills. We next had another past-primer, Ron Leflore. But these dudes were just the opening acts for the young, then prime, than Coco Raines (not to be mistaken for Coco Laboy).

Couldn’t remember so i looked up, Pittsburgh for years, but a couple years in Texas before his stop in Montreal. Weird despite being such great hitter (for avg.) he bounced around after Montreal. Giants/Phillies/Dodgers/Jays…..

If memory served valentine was tall but wouldn’t say lanky a real beast and yes that is Oliver . People forget how the spos were very popular especially in the late 70’s and eighties had great teams. the last hurrah was when they went after Langston to make a push for the pennant gave up a good one in return:-)
come to Dorion suits where you get no….”hassoles” _ Yvon Lambert

Good morning
The front page of the Toronto star is devoted to the toranna team making the playoffs ….having the raptors on the front page is a sure sign that leafs are done like dinner EXCEPT everyone else is losing too now I mean can oTTawa or NJ still be in this???
come to Dorion suits where you get no….”hassoles” _ Yvon Lambert

The Stanley Cup Playoffs consist of 16 teams, eight in each conference, but it is now division-based and a wild-card system has been added.

The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division. It is possible for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.

Seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the fewest points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second-fewest points.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. There is no reseeding as the tournament moves to the second round and winners of that series advance to the conference championship series and the right to play in the Stanley Cup Final.

For the legions of Hab’s fans who can barely stomach the ‘wisdom’ of Don Cherry on Coaches Corner I would highly recommend tonight’s edition because the nation will, I’m sure, get an erudite, reasoned, explanation of why his poor Maple Leafs are having such a hard time lately winning hockey games. Maybe the whole world isn’t wondering, but Leaf nation certainly is, and it’s comforting to know those troubled souls will sleep better tonight after his blather tonight. We all know he, thoughtful analyst that he is, laid some of the groundwork this week by noting that the Leafs oughta forget about those wimpy American college boys and stick to good old Canadian boys(French Canadians excepted of course and foreigners? Fugget about them, send those damn Russkies and the wimpy Finns and Swedes back home). Oh Don, what should Toronto do? By around 8:00 or so tonight we should know; I can hardly wait!!!

Who knows, we might well be finishing ahead of Boston if MB had spent the summer making sure we played the season without Plekanec, Emelin, Markov, Budaj, Eller and Galchenyuk (US-born but all foreign-blood).

Meanwhile, it’s a good thing for us that our arch-rival is weighed down with Rask, Chara, Krejci, Seidneberg, and all their crappy new Swedes. And Iginla – I mean come on, isn’t his father African?!

I am watching Cherry on Saturday night to see him talk about Dion Phaneuf running out on the media after the St. Louis Blues game. I mean after the numerous times he has attacked P.K. for nothing, he is really going to give it to the Toronto Maple Leafs Captain …. Right ?

Okay I know what is going to happen, but the lame excuse he gives will be hilarious.

I especially honed in on how players celebrate goals, and not just OT game-winners, and P.K. is no more hyped or exuberant than the average reaction. Cherry could have cherry-picked Eller’s muted reaction to his last tally (should be easy….it’s his only goal in the last 40 games….made it 4-2 against Ottawa) as an example of a respectful reaction. Of course, Eller was feeling down-in-the-dumps then and didn’t really believe the team was going to win.

Hi Dipsy. You are so right. And although I watch little soccer (just the internationals), I actually love their style of analysis — clear-headed yet opinionated, all having walked the walk themselves, not afraid to disagree with each other, VERY appreciative of really good football, and entertaining in discussion. And yes, grumpy. Third guy is John Giles. Interestingly, Dunphy also writes about politics and current affairs.

And Irish rugby has its corresponding curmudgeon in George Hook. Not everyone likes him, but you always know where you stand and his analysis is usually spot-on.

Cherry has many of the ingredients but unfortunately he and the CBC followed the if-it-ain’t-broke dictum all those years ago so that he became a pantomime monster and xenophobe rather than ever developing into a commentator you could respect.

Good morning…. or good night.
Don’t know what to make of it just yet.
Good night means I drink my last beer now (5:06 am EST) and good morning means I drink it whenever I wake up.

Either way…. Habs vs. Florida on a Saturday: WTF? This is the first game all season that I’m okay with not watching. Not that I think the cats should just lay over and die, but f__k, it’s Saturday – this is the Habs game on tap? Any other day of the week it’s fine, but Saturday…?
Go Habs, let’s win, let’s clinch, etc. But jeez… who makes the schedule???

You still up, HiS?
Good morning to you from the western edge of one continent to the western edge of another.
I challenged you on an opinion a couple of days back, can’t now recall what. Must have been of immense importance!
Good night to you if you are about to hit the hay — sleep tight if you’re already there.

I am renovating a basement in middle of nowhere BC and I came across a Calgary Sun news paper from August of 1992 tucked into the wall . There was only a couple of pages, but one of them was a short story on Stephane Richer .
In 92′ I was way more interested in pot, girls and beer than hockey, as many sixteen year old boys are .
The article centerd around Stephane’s love of baseball . This was, I think, a liitle more than a year after he’d been traded for Kirk Muller . Apparently he used to practice with the Expos when he had time and was offered a chance to play with the team if he spent some time in AAA ball . This is shortly after coming off a fifty goal season with the Habs ! After his trade to Jersey, Stephane said he would happily PAY to play baseball instead of hockey . In the off season he led his slow-pitch team to a national championship .
I thought it was cool . A lot of stuff I didn’t know about a former Habs star .
Moral of the story is it’s better to play ball than play for the Devils .

Great post. Your first sentence was SO mundane I just knew it had to be a set-up for a juicy post to follow. Wow! Imagine had Richer played even a couple of times for the Expos! There aren’t too many two-sports stories involving NHL players. And I love your concluding moral.

Truth is, there are probably dozens of interesting, non-hockey stories for every player. I think we forget that, still deeply locked into our childhood notion of our hockey idols living the dream: nothing but hockey, 24/7, getting paid for it.

(btw, forgive me if I’ve written rudely about any members of your family! I couldn’t remember you posting before so I checked your profile — which to me always feels a bit like looking through someone’s wallet without permission! — and saw your name. It’s possible I have been, uh, uncharitable about someone with that surname!)

Why hasnt Greg Pateryn been given a chance to play with Mtl this year, Im not saying tinordis been bad or anything, but statistically (and from the last look with the big club) he seems like he should have been given a real shot.

Ok, so I just now bothered to read on how the new match-ups work in the playoffs. Stupid. Don’t like it one bit. I have always been a proponent of top 8 in the conference period. All team in the conference play each other often enough and live close enough to make it just top 8 point-wise. And just go by points all the way.

LOL, on TSN someone said that Kadri looked good tonight and got 71 dislikes. People wanna b!tch. I can’t blame them… hard to find positives in a 7 game losing streak. Go Wings tomorrow! (that was a lot easier to say)

You are assuming the hooking and other efforts to slow down the Habs’s forwards will be called by the referees when the playoffs start. I wouldn’t make that assumption. To paraphrase Bergevin, “some teams are built to make the playoffs, and others are built to win in the playoffs.” When the playoffs start, the referees will put away their whistles on obstruction and interference calls. That almost certainly disadvantages the Habs.

There is something wrong there that goes beyond the talent level though. Their defense is brutal but they have some players and should not be crashing this hard. I also don’t like Carlyle though, just something about him that really bugs me. Mind you, I thought the same way of Wilson, so maybe its just all the white and blue sitting in front of him all the time.

Good point. I think I might need to change my vote. Well before my time, but your post is entirely valid.

Sometimes I should qualify my information by adding the disclaimer that I often vote, share information/examples specific to my age group. Pooch made a great point about 89, but on reflection the 67 group, at least on paper, is the better team.

With all due respect Charlie Hodge and Gump Worsley were smaller than Gionta. I find it hard to believe Roy would be beaten by either of them. Size-wise the 89 team would have crushed them. You just can’t compare those two teams.

Hard to compare eras. Would the 1929 Yankees win 30 games against today’s athletes? Probably not. But, against their peers, they were dominant. Some players transcend generations – Mario Lemieux comes to mind. However, team based arguments are very hard to weigh, if only because of the variables. The game has changed.

Lastly, in the six team era it might be argued that the competition was better, as there were fewer teams, resulting in a quality of play that was not so diluted.

There is a cool website that I have visited in the past that matches teams against one another from the different generations and simulates match ups. You can enter both teams and the simulation would identify who would win a 7 game series. The name of the site escapes me, but I’ll try and locate it tomorrow.

It’s all relative. Sure the 67 Habs were a great team but I find it hard to believe Stephane Richer wouldn’t have had about six options of where to shoot on a 5′ 6″ goalie.
I think the website is http://www.whatifsports.com?

All kidding aside HiS, you can help give us your opinion on which team would be better as you have seen more than most of here on the boards. I just find it hard to believe an 80s player would have any difficulty scoring on a 5’6″ goalie from the 60s. Also the 89 Habs were a huge team compared to the 67 team.
I would have loved to see Beliveau play live though.

Obviously I’m happy about the Loafs losing, but I swear with the East this season, they are still not even close to out of it. Just look at those 4 teams, none of them has gotten a point in days now, and they’ve all played. Even NJ is back in it (4pts back of Toronto with 2 in hand).

It’s a total war of attrition. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if an 87 or 88 point team makes it in.

So,how does this particular,annual,late season collapse by the Leafs compare with other ones,especially the one 2 seasons ago?
I’m not sure,but they’re all equally enjoyable.Last year,they managed to avoid this annual rite of spring.
Until the 3rd period of Game 7 vs the Bruins.
That more than made up for it.

I was thinking maybe The big city is too much of a distraction for him, and they don’t want to lose him to too much partying. This is based only on one published incident mind you so there might not be anything to it.
But it hurt a few up and comers in the past